Posting Pictures for Daddy!

Hi Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunties, Uncles, and lots of other family and friends!

Mommy says Daddy needed to take the day off so we got together and put up some pictures for him.

You see earlier today we all sat around the kitchen table and carved our pumpkins. Here we are posing in front of all our hard work...



We loved carving smiley faces on our pumpkins.

But Daddy's pumpkin was, um, well, a bit different...



Mommy said that Daddy needs to learn to relax.

Happy Halloween!

Love,

Alyssa, David, Bret Jr., Kekoa, Nalani & Malia

The Birthday Bret...

It's birthday time in the Bicoy home!

Okay, with eight people living in our house, maybe that's not all that unusual an occurance. But our son Bretty is excited because his birthday only comes once a year!



As you'll see in the video, Bretty is very quick to remind us exactly whose birthday it is...



Bretty got some of the typical birthday presents like a new bike...



And he really liked that his brothers and sisters wanted to get him this particular new game for the Wii...



He thinks "Big Brain" is the perfect game for him.

Cari does say that this little boy is a lot like his old man.

Well, there may be some truth to that because for his birthday we bought him his very own universal one of these...



Yes, that is my son's first remote control.

Goodness knows that a person shouldn't watch a single television show for more than a few minutes at a time. There is always something else you could be watching!

His first remote. Sniff.

My boy is done growed up.



Happy birthday Bretty!

Many Pumpkins and Manny Pacquiao

Las Vegas is a big city. A really big city. Nearly two million people call this valley home.

And yet in the middle of all this hullaballoo, you can find a patch of ground which would make even Linus a happy camper...



Yes my friends, that is a really big pumpkin patch.

And those five kids digging around in the middle of it are indeed five of our six children.

The pumpkin that Kekoa found is really unique, and he loves the fact that it is so unique...



Kekoa wants everyone to see the discoloration on one side of his chosen pumpkin which he says is really cool.

Whereas Bretty opted for a smaller version so he could hold it in one hand and strike what he thinks is a cool pose of his own...



Who knew crawling around in the dirt and picking up fruit off the ground could be so much fun?



Oh, and in case you noticed the pumpkin-fruit reference, I had to look that one up. Of course, all our boys already knew that a pumpkin isn't a vegetable, but actually a fruit. Those smarty pants.

This weekend we also had the opportunity to attend one of Las Vegas' famous super fights, the rematch between World Champion Manny Pacquiao and the former champ Marco Antonio Barrera...



If you're a boxing fan, then you'll know that the first Pacquiao - Barrera fight was a huge upset as Manny knocked out the heavily favored Barrera. But even if you're not a boxing fan, you'd love this fight because there is probably no more entertaining and energetic boxer out there than Manny Pacquiao. He's one of those small guys whose hands are lightening fast.

And coming from the Philippines, Manny is a sports superstar to us Filipinos everywhere.

Cari and I were lucky enough to receive a pair of tickets from a terrific lady who is a true advocate for philanthropy and a friend of the Nevada Community Foundation...



She knew that I am part Filipino (whose mother is from Wisconsin - figure that one out) and probably felt sorry for me because there aren't a lot of Filipino giants in the world of sports (if you can consider the 5' 6" 130 pound Pacquiao a "giant").

While my lovely wife has been to countless sporting events in her life, she had never been to a boxing match. Thus, she was a bit confused by the need to be continually reminded what round it was by someone wearing a bikini...



Curiously, there were three different "ring girls" (as they're called) each of whom takes a turn walking around the ring carrying a round card. As Cari explained to me, after their turn in the ring, it probably takes them the next two rounds to figure out which round card to hold up next.

I'm staying out of that one.

Anyway, it was a really fun fight. There is nothing quite like the electricity of a championship bout between two top boxers. If you really think about it, there is no other sport in which the game could end at any moment from the very start of the match.

Every second in boxing is like overtime in football - where it only takes one play to win the game. When you have two champions like Pacquiao and Barrera, both of whom can end the fight with one quick flurry of punches, it makes for a thrilling event...



It was a great fight (and I'm not just saying that because Manny won!).

Of course, the tickets for these superfights are quite expensive - and because the main event could potentially be over in one round - they give you a whole evening of boxing matches. I think there were 6 or 7 fights in total. That meant it was quite late when we returned home.

Usually we come home to find at least one of our kids camped out in our room waiting for us to get home.

Sometimes, however, our kids will fall asleep in the most unusual of ways...



She must have been waiting for the Great Pumpkin to rise!